Supernova
by laheying
Summary: "James decided in that split second, that if he was truly a star, then Effy was a supernova, exploding and outshining the rest of the galaxy on a daily basis to make him and his fellow classmates look bad."
1. find the time

find the time

_"If you be my star I'll be your sky_  
_You can hide underneath me and come out at night_  
_When I turn jet black and you show off your light_  
_I live to let you shine_  
_I live to let you shine_  
_But you can skyrocket away from me_  
_And never come back if you find another galaxy_  
_Far from here with more room to fly_  
_Just leave me your stardust to remember you by."_

_– Boats & Birds, Gregory & the Hawk_

Adelaide Elizabeth von Jaeger - or if you wanted to keep every body part intact: Effy - sat on a bench overlooking the lake in Durmstrang's grounds. The main school building crumbled behind her, housing a fair few of the classrooms and the Hall. It was a tall, worn building, with a handful of windows smashed in from the few, failed attempt at Quidditch. Effy was the very epitome of aristocrat, with wavy black hair reaching her waist, eyes that seemed to shift between blue and grey, settling on the latter more often than the former and an ever-so-slightly turned-up nose, all inherited from her father's side of the family.

Effy was also naturally pale, unlike so many of the other students she lived with, since Durmstrang was renowned for taking in troublesome young magicians from across the globe. Effy was short, but made up for it with a lithe, athletic structure, built from years of athletics and fighting training.

She reached into the depths of her fur-lined cloak she had thrown over her shoulders in her haste to leave the sole female dorm earlier that morning and pulled out a crisp green apple from her blazer pocket. She swung her short legs and bit into the apple, crunching it slowly and enjoying it.

"Effy!" someone called out her name from one of the windows.

She turned slowly to see Sven, the boy who had covered for her at the start of second stat and saved her from another week in isolation, hanging precariously out of a window on the third floor. The whole 'being friends' business hadn't exactly worked out, but it was useful to have someone around to lie about her whereabouts and cover for her frequent absences from classes.

"We've got assembly now," Sven called out.

When Effy refused to give a response, the window shut behind her, prompting Sven to walk down and fetch her from her perch outside the Runes classroom.

"Come on, you're going to assembly whether you kill me after or not." He beamed, tolerant to the stare that made first stats run for their lives.

Effy turned back to the lake, stood up and tossed the apple core into the lake with a lazy flick of her wrist. She turned back to Sven and took his extended arm to support herself as she tried not to slip on the ice that was expected throughout the year at Durmstrang. With a few careful footsteps, Effy was by the door and already removing her cloak. The pair walked inside and Effy hung the cloak up on the wall, she then accepted Sven's arm and they walked to the Hall together. Sven had a fair reasoning behind taking her arm: so she couldn't veer off and find Will. Will wasn't a nice person and the fact that he and Effy were always together irritated him.

He didn't mind Will that much. Well, that was the first lie – Sven hated Will, for all the obvious reasons. Like pretty much everyone else at Durmstrang, Sven liked Effy, although not perhaps as much as other people did. He had seen her at what he thought was her worst, having patched her up after fights and taken care of her when she had a hangover.

Sven spotted Will and hoped Effy hadn't noticed him too. He turned to see if she was still stood next to him as his arm felt a sudden absence. Effy had taken his momentary hesitation to separate and go and walk with Will. Sven sighed and followed the two of them into the Hall, annoyed at Effy's behaviour for perhaps the hundredth time that week.

* * *

Effy, Sven and Will filed into the Hall, sitting down in the back row with the rest of Effy's gang

Assembly at Durmstrang was boring. Although Effy had learnt that it was the best time and place to prove who really did run shit around the place.

However, the gang had decided earlier on in the day that today's assembly was not going to involve starting a brawl, as the end of year prank consisted of behaving perfectly for two weeks and then activating every single prank that was possible on the very last day, less than twelve hours away.

"Welcome, students!" the Headmaster called out, his voice a little too fearful of what may happen. "Welcome, welcome." He repeated until the chattering died. "As you all know, we have entered into an exchange programme with Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. We have had to choose five students to go to Hogwarts, five to go to Beauxbatons and ten to buddy up with the students who are coming to Durmstrang." He paused and waited for effect, as the audience had erupted with joy over the fact that this wasn't another assembly on how students should conduct themselves on the school site.

"The students that have been chosen to go to both schools are incredibly lucky and should enjoy their time in their country whilst they study, now al–"

"Get on with it!" someone along the back row called out, impatient to get out of the Hall.

"As I was saying, all of the students have been chosen from our fifth years, soon to be sixth years, so it does not disrupt their studies too badly. The following students are going to be studying at Beauxbatons, located in the south of France for the next two years: Valerie Kohler, Una Newman, Tia Krause, Nathan Flint and Elfinn Fleischer."

Effy laughed as the crowd applauded those who were going. The staff had quite clearly used this opportunity to get rid of the most troublesome students. Every single name on that list was someone related to the gang.

"And now for the lucky five going to study at Hogwarts!" The Headmaster gave a shaky smile and picked up his piece of paper. "Please congratulate the following: Amalia Snow, Edmund Fuchs, Klaus Lang, William Cooper and Elizabeth von Jaeger." The applause started again and Effy grinned to herself. The terrified look on the head's face was enough to make her enjoy the moment.

The possibilities of a whole new crowd of people to piss off only made her smile grow. Although Will was going too, she could find a way to drop him when she got bored. She managed that every other week with Sven.

The Headmaster rambled on for another fifteen minutes, speaking about the buddies for the students going to Durmstrang, finally stepping down to let the Deputy Head say his end of year speech. The Deputy Head was disliked by everyone – staff and students alike. He was the one responsible for the long and tedious assemblies on uniform or how students should conduct themselves on the school site.

"Remember, there is no point to start fights in the corridors, in the grounds or in assembly." The Deputy coughed a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'Effy'.

"Well we wouldn't start them if assembly wasn't this boring," Effy hollered in the direction of the stage.

"Thank you for your input, Elizabeth." The Deputy wrinkled his nose as if what was in front of him repulsed him. He finished his speech and scuttled off the stage, before there was a repeat of the previous year and textbooks were hurled at him.

Students began to file out, heading to their dorms before dinner. People walked past Effy and Will, offering consolatory smiles and even proposing to hold the fort up for them while they were away. Even Tim, the person whose nose Effy had broken in second stat made her promise to create hell at Hogwarts for him. Half the school seemed to be making similar comments to the two of them as they walked past.

"I'll see you," Sven said as he got up with their row. Effy turned to him and smiled, acknowledging him with something that was not a scowl. _He was a toy._ Effy reassured herself. _Something to throw away at the end of the day._

"Yeah, see you." She turned away, practically shooing him away with a flick of her wrist.

He departed, leaving Effy and Will in the Hall with the other eight exchange students. The teachers filtered out, leaving just the exchange students and the Headmaster.

"If you'd all like to come over here." The Head waved them all over to the stage. "I need to discuss your buddies and your behaviour on the exchange."

All ten of them walked over, some choosing to walk across the chairs instead of around them. Eventually, they all gathered by the stage and waited.

"Now, your partners." Effy zoned out while the Beauxbatons buddies were read out, finding no interest in remembering who Una or Elfinn were going to be living with for the next two years. She slipped back into the present moment when the Head began reading out the Hogwartian buddies.

"Amalia, your buddy is Rose Weasley. Her parents work in the Ministry. Edmund, your buddy's called Jack Daniels. I think he's a half-blood, not much information here, brought up by his mother, his father left before he was born. Valerie, you're with Molly Weasley. Her father's well known in the Ministry, quite high up. Probably quite rich, I'm not sure. William, you're with Scorpius Malfoy. I think his father does something in the Ministry. He's a pureblood; I had to make sure of that before your mother let me accept the transfer. Finally Effy, your buddy is Alice Longbottom. Her father is the Herbology professor at Hogwarts and her mother runs the Leaky Cauldron." He paused, waiting for Effy to quiz him.

"Sir?" she asked, biting back a sarcastic compliment on how great the Head's comb-over looked.

"Yes Effy?" The Head replied, exasperated. Effy frequently questioned things she didn't like and he was slowly giving up.

"When do we leave and what's actually happening on that day?"

"Well, if you'd let me speak, I'd tell you," He joked, laughing at himself. Effy stared at him, obviously not amused and the laughter stopped. "Right, well then." He paused again and began. "You are going to go up to your dormitories now to pack, and you will have dinner and breakfast here. You'll leave before the students that aren't going on the exchange, so you're all safely away with your separate ministries. Your parents will turn up and you can say goodbye to them too and then a portkey has been organised for you. The Hogwarts students will take the hairbrush and the Beauxbatons students will take the tyre."

Effy raised an eyebrow as he paused for breath.

"Your exchange families will be waiting there for you and a ministry official will introduce you to them. Do not go home with someone you don't know."

"We're not stupid," Effy muttered to herself as she examined her fingernails.

"What was that, Effy?" the Headmaster clocked in to her mutterings.

"I said we're not stupid. You really should go and get your hearing checked," She said, speaking clearly instead of murmuring.

"Well, thank you for your input." His hand dived into his pocket. "Oh, and can you please give this to the Head at Hogwarts for me?" He pulled out a letter sealed with a wax imprint of the Durmstrang crest.

"You seriously trust me with a letter?" Effy asked, raising her eyebrows in disbelief at the man in charge.

"Well, I'm going to owl to make sure that he receives the letter."

"Why don't you just owl it in the first place?" Effy asked as she tucked the letter away in the pocket of her blood red blazer.

"Because I think you're old enough to be responsible towards this."

"I think you need your head checked." Effy folded her arms as someone sniggered.

"Well, thank you for your input, Effy." The Head unintentionally folded his arms too.

"You're ever so welcome," Effy replied.

"As I was saying," the Head continued. "You'll go to Hogwarts a day earlier than all of the other students with your buddies. You will then be sorted into your houses and then shown to your dorms. The following day, you'll get a tour and then the other students will arrive. Whatever happens after that, I honestly couldn't care less. You're the Headmaster of Hogwarts' issue after that." He sighed and smiled as if he had just disposed of a huge burden. "Now, go and pack before we send you off with no luggage!" The Head joked, more than happy to hand the lot of them over to someone else.

* * *

Effy sighed as she collapsed on top of her trunk. "Why do we even need to pack?" she asked the dorm, which held the whole Durmstrang's female population, a grand total of nineteen girls.

"Because we're going to a different school, dumbass," Tia said, three beds down.

"Ugh, it can suck my cock," Effy grumbled as she waited for Tia's usual sassy response.

"That's a shame." A familiar voice said from the doorway, making Effy instinctively sit up. "I was rather hoping you'd do that to me later."

Effy laughed as she met Will's eyes. "Fuck off!" she called out across the dorm. "And do be polite, there are younger children in here!"

"Oh, please." Will laughed too. Effy stood up and crossed the room, her feet barely touching the floor as she floated across to the doorway. "Come here then." Will grinned as Effy reached up on tiptoes to kiss him. She pulled away from him, twitching her nose as if it itched. Her sudden mood swing didn't go unnoticed. Tia had worked with her for a good five years and understood her every move.

"I should pack," She mumbled, suddenly uninterested in him.

"Effy, come on!" Will called out desperately from the doorway as Effy moved to the bed.

Effy ignored him, now taking more interest in packing her trunk. Tia crossed the dorm and slammed the door in Will's face, leaving him outside, with absolutely no hope of getting in.

* * *

Effy grimaced as she got up the following morning. Her packed trunk lay at the end of her bed, the constant reminder that she was never going to go to Durmstrang again. She would go to Hogwarts and then leave. Vanish off the face of the earth forevermore.

Despite the feeling that she shouldn't, Effy sensed sentiment in her thoughts. She cast it away quicker than it had arrived like a stray blanket, kicking away from her brain. Tia, Valerie, Amalia, Una and Effy were awake, all five of them were obviously overwhelmed by the idea of going to a different school. They were the only female fifth years throughout the whole school. The thought of being separated seemed terrorising to everyone but Effy. She sat back, enjoying the chaos as everyone ran around, searching for that one lost shoe, the tights stuck under the mattress and the holey socks tucked away in their pillowcases.

Effy smirked as Valerie started screaming about losing her necklace. Of course Valerie had lost it. Effy snuggled back into her cushions, knowing that every last piece of her things had been packed up and stowed away in her trunk in preparation for leaving the following day.

There was a knock on the dormitory door and it opened by itself. Effy raised her eyebrows at the person standing there.

"You genuinely can't piss off for more than twenty four hours?" Effy asked as she cocked an eyebrow in the direction of the doorway.

"Just give me a chance to explain, please?"

"No. Go away before I make you." She twisted herself to get her copy of the Monster Book of Monsters out. That was something she was leaving as a 'present' for the first year that got her bed.

"Oh come on Effy, don't throw that at me!" The figure pleaded.

"Piss off, William," She called back, tossing the book from one hand to the other. "You're giving me a million good reasons to hurl this at you and your presence is all of them."

"Fine, I'll go. But we have to see each other later," Will said as Tia slammed the door in his face again.

* * *

Effy picked at her food that morning, refusing to eat it. She refused even when Tia tried to force it down her throat. She picked up her plate, cutlery and mug and moved over to Sven's table, but not without getting hit on first. She turned back to stare daggers at Billy, the too tall, overweight flirtatious one in the school.

Durmstrang students sat in their dorms at meal times and seeing too much of one person irritated Effy. Especially the girls.

"Oh, hey," Sven said as Effy plonked down next to him.

"Hi," She replied morosely as she picked at her scrambled eggs.

"Eat them before they're cold or you'll whine again," Sven pointed out.

Effy frowned and started eating her almost cold scrambled eggs. She never really liked eggs. Scrambled eggs were one of her worst nightmares, let alone cold scrambled eggs. Eventually, she finished. She shuddered after eating the final forkful, but elite forms of torture for the elite competitors, nothing less could be expected from Durmstrang.

"Are you having that bacon?" Effy asked one of Sven's dorm mates. He blushed and offered it to her without a word. She took it without saying thank you and ate it in seconds.

"I'll see you later, Sven." She smiled delicately before getting up and leaving.

* * *

Effy ran full-pelt across the Entrance Hall, knowing that one way to make an entrance was to be late. The other was to smash through the windows or doors, but that was looking like less and less of an option, especially after the cannon incident with a group of second years, several of the doors had been reinforced.

She vaulted herself up from the bannister and caught hold of Nikolai the Grand's helmet and hauled herself up from there, avoiding the gaggle of first years that were congregating in the middle of the corridor.

She sprinted down the rest of the corridor, pausing in front of the Head's office door to catch her breath. She opened it slowly, a bored expression masking her urge to skip up to one of the bookcases that lined the wall, grab a book and read it.

"How nice of you to join us, Elizabeth," The Headmaster said from his plush leather seat in the centre of the room. "your friend is waiting over there." He pointed to the non-fiction section without looking up.

Effy grumbled under her breath and headed over to the non-fiction section of the office. She walked slowly through the labyrinth of bookcases filled with books. She inhaled the musty smell of old books before turning sharply into the centre of the maze.

"Hey," Sven muttered, waving as she arrived in the gap between two bookcases.

"Hi," Effy smiled, hugging her arms around her waist.

Sven grinned at Effy. She seemed to vary between behaving like queen bitch and the cutest thing on the planet. She was dressed in a far-too-large sweatshirt and was heading more towards the latter. Her hair was still ruffled by sleep and there was a bandage wrapped tightly around her wrist, dark red seeping into the outer layers.

"Uh- You should get your injury from Tuesday's brawl sorted out," Sven said, filling the awkward silence with an equally awkward comment.

Effy flicked her eyes up to meet his. "Yeah, I should."

Sven turned and stared at her in confusion. She never took his advice. Not once. She tugged at the sleeves of her sweater uncomfortably as she paced around the bookcases.

"So…" Sven said quietly, trying to break the awkward silence that formed like a layer of film over milk that had been left out for too long.

Effy's curious glance locked in with Sven's and she smiled softly.

Everything was changing suddenly, especially Effy. She never smiled in a nice way to him. She would barely consider it. Sven nearly leapt out of his skin as Effy locked him in a sudden embrace, pulling his neck down so his lips could meet hers.

Effy didn't kiss people. She punched people. She didn't hug. She just _didn't._ Despite the feeling that all of it was wrong, Sven didn't break up the kiss. He was too entranced by the way Effy's lips felt against his, the way she smelt of blackcurrants and roses and how she was stood on her tiptoes while he was crouching down.

She lurched backwards suddenly, detangling herself from their hasty embrace.

"Owl me, okay?" she asked out of nowhere.

"Wha-" Sven stumbled over his own words as Effy turned back to pacing between the bookcases as if nothing had happened.

"Promise you'll owl me," Effy said as she nibbled on her sleeve.

"Of-of course I will," Sven stuttered as he put his hands into his trouser pockets. He felt the small square box in his pocket and swallowed, his throat feeling rougher than Effy on a morning after a massive party.

She suddenly bolted forward, hugging him tightly. He held her closely, stroking her hair and whispering in her ears.

"I got you something," He said suddenly, his fingers gripping around the tiny square box with such force his knuckles paled.

"Huh?" Effy asked, an adorable look of confusion across her face.

"I – I got you something," Sven repeated, blushing like there was no tomorrow. In a way, there was no tomorrow with Effy. Today was the last day he would see her, perhaps forever if she didn't visit. He knew everything about her 'situation', having coerced it out of her one fine Sunday morning when she was completely and utterly plastered.

"Oh. Um…"

"Don't open it til you get there, okay?" He pressed the small box into her palm and kissed her on the forehead as the Headmaster appeared in the gap between the two bookcases, the exact one Effy had appeared in, perhaps no less than five minutes previously.

"Okay. Thank you," She whispered as she rolled onto her tiptoes and lightly kissed him on the cheek.

"Effy, your great aunt's here to see you," The headmaster said quietly.

"Well, you know what I mentioned about your siblings, Adelaide." She said shortly, brushing Effy down as if she had rolled through a cloud of dust. "You can stop those useless puppy-dog eyes now, young man, this lady is not going to be with you for much longer."

Effy pouted. Her great-aunt was annoying. They shared the same name; they had to live together in a draft-ridden, too cold, all-but-silent mansion somewhere in the north of Russia. It forced Effy to floo to school and flooing was one experience she had finished with. Spinning and spinning and spinning was enough to make even the strongest stomach let its contents see daylight again.

"Where is that William boy?" Her great-aunt asked haughtily as the students going to Beauxbatons began to spin and spin away to the French Ministry of Magic. She didn't like Will, but neither did she dislike him. "You two must try to get along. Pieter here has already informed me that you two have not been behaving correctly in the recent days." She gestured to the Headmaster.

Effy turned and glared at her soon to be old Headmaster.

"Well, you have your luggage on you?" The Head asked the students heading to Hogwarts. There were five calls of assent as the Head pushed an old hairbrush into Effy's palm. "Everyone grab hold of the hairbrush, you're set to leave in less than a minute."

There was a quick scrabble to grab hold of the hairbrush and various complaints before everyone was at least touching the hairbrush.

"Well, have a lovely time, don't go home with anyone you don't recognise and most of all, behave yourselves!" the Headmaster beamed.

Effy felt a hook jerk her forward from behind her navel as the world began to spin. She saw glimpses of faces, Great Aunt Adelaide, the Head, Will's disapproving mother, but most of all, Sven.

* * *

Four out of five students landed with a thump on the British Ministry of Magic's floor. They had appeared to have landed in an office, desks making uniform lines to the back of the room. Effy watched as the others picked themselves up off of the floor, a smug look across her face.

"Are you the exchange students from Durmstrang?" an important looking ministry official asked them.

The others were still picking themselves up off the floor, so Effy nodded wordlessly, not trusting her stomach to keep her recent meal down.

The Ministry official led them through to a sitting area with cushioned seats, probably designed for a long wait. There were two other students in a blue silk uniform, perhaps a little bluer than sky blue. One was female and had shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and a nose covered in freckles and the other was male, with a shaggy black hair grazing his jawline and a set of curious mahogany eyes that followed the five of them as they walked in and sat down in a line, their blood-red blazers ruffled, their top buttons undone and unkempt hair.

"Is there an 'Amalia Snow' here?" a different ministry official said as she popped her head around the door. Amalia stood up and brushed her short caramel-coloured hair out of her eyes. She walked to the lady and disappeared around the corner to greet her exchange family.

It took another fifteen minutes for Edmund's exchange family to appear and take him back to his house for the next two years. Another half an hour for Valerie to be claimed by another Ministry official leaving work. Ten minutes for Will and the Beauxbatons boy to be taken by different families until it was just Effy and the strawberry blonde girl left.

"Hi," The girl said quietly.

"Hello," Effy replied cautiously.

"What eez your name?"

"Effy, what's yours?"

The girl took a moment to reply. "Aurélie Rousseau."

The two sat in a mutually uncomfortable silence for another hour.

"You would theenk zey could arrive on time," Aurélie said quietly, only loud enough for Effy to hear. A head appeared around the corner and the two of them were called for.

They were introduced to the Longbottom family, which consisted of five people, the mother whose name was Hannah; the father was called Neville, fraternal twin sisters named Alice and Grace, who preferred to be called Gracie. The former looked more like her father, with dark hair and dark brown eyes and the latter leaned more towards her mother in terms of appearance, with blonde hair and lighter brown eyes, although she was a little taller than Alice. Finally there was a younger boy, perhaps no older than ten. He was small, with messy brown hair and blue eyes.

"Speak of the devil," Effy muttered to herself. Something about the blonde girl made her feel uncomfortable – perhaps the way she was sizing up Effy. Although Effy didn't show her discomfort, she sized up the blonde girl in retaliation. Stick thin, hair taken care of, nails recently manicured. Effy could've gone on forever but let her eyes flicker over the other girl, Alice. She didn't seem to be too bad. She seemed confused, potentially a little detached from reality. Effy sighed quietly, barely loud enough for herself to hear.

"We live at the top of the Leaky Cauldron," Neville began to explain. "Hannah owns the place and it's easy to keep an eye on the people staying if we live there too."

It took a long walk out of the Ministry, a fast-paced stroll down numerous alleyways and two and a half rides on something called 'The Underground', which Effy didn't quite understand, before they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. It seemed invisible to other passers-by as they walked past without sparing so much as a glance

* * *

The very next morning, Effy decided that she hated Britain. It was too hot, the sun was always out and the temperatures were so much higher than Russia. She dressed in the only things suitable for this outrageously searing heat – a miniskirt and a loose grey racerback vest top with a pair of muggle shoes Aurélie had loaned her, seeing as they had the same shoe size.

"Dad told me to tell you that we're going to a barbeque today," The boy, whose name was Frank, said as he appeared in the doorway.

"Thanks squirt," Effy said as she shut the door in the kid's face.

"Why do you have to be so rude?" Aurélie said, her accent lilting over a few words.

Effy turned back to her bed, flopping down on it. "Well for a start, you don't want to scar the kid yourself when you climb out of bed in twenty-three seconds with your underwear and one sock on."

Aurélie folded her arms over her chest defensively. "Oh just go away."

"I wish I could, trust me," Effy said as she stretched out on the bed, just brushing the headboard with her fingertips. She smirked at the lump in Aurélie's bed before rolling over and having a quick nap.

* * *

Effy whistled to herself as they lined up to floo to the Potters house in Godric Hollow. It calmed her somewhat as it reminded her of her return to Durmstrang after the summer holidays. Her stomach lurched at her previous memories of flooing as her turn rolled around. Just because it was reassuring didn't mean that she felt comfortable with it. She grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it into the orange flames, staining them green. She jumped in and shouted the address Neville had told her with a clear voice.

Effy spun and spun and spun until she stumbled out of a fireplace. Wherever she was, she had no idea. She knew no-one and the only thing that could comfort her was the amber ring she twiddled around her finger. It had been Sven's parting gift, a token to remind her of all of the stunts they had pulled together. She only hoped he could survive without her.

"Why do I have to be on flooing duty?" Effy heard someone call out as they grabbed hold of her.

"Because your girlfriend is going to be falling out of that fireplace and I'm sure as hell not catching her," A female voice called back.

"Well, hi there," The boy said, looking down on her. Effy detached herself from the grip of the boy, stepping back to size him up. He didn't seem like a boy really, he seemed to be stuck in the awkward transition of becoming a man. He was tall, probably a whole foot taller than Effy, who stood short and proud at 5'4''. Tousled dark hair covered his head, bits of it falling into his hazel eyes. Effy didn't bother looking twice at him; his behaviour reassured her of what he was like as a person.

"I'm James Sirius Potter, it's nice to meet you," He said, offering his hand for her to shake. James seemed uncertain at her discomfort and shifty unease. Of course Effy wasn't nervous, she was waiting for this peculiar boy to tell her something about himself, whether it was voluntary or something she picked up by his actions, she'd know.

Effy raised her eyebrows at his arrogant tone. He put emphasis on the 'Potter' part of his name, as if he was flaunting his last name.

"James, stop flirting with whoever just came through the fireplace and pay attention before your girlfriend lands in front of you. The last thing we want is another argument between you two."

"Lily, I don't argue with her that often!" The boy named James called back. "Ask Al!"

"You don't discuss girls with Al, idiot. You discuss them with me because I am a girl," The voice, presumably named Lily called back.

James didn't have anything more to say to Lily, but turned to Effy and began speaking to her.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name," he began. "But I can't help but imagine that it must be a beautiful name for someone as beautiful as you."

Effy raised an eyebrow in disgust. "And that's the exact reason why you will never know my name," she said before turning away and leaving him to catch the next person to tumble through the fireplace.

* * *

Effy had already downed her fair share of the drinks cabinet by the time the James boy arrived at her side.

"So, how are you?" he asked, attempting to get something out of her.

She stood in resolute silence, weighing up the risks and the advantages of going and snaffling a whole bottle of firewhiskey from the adult's bar.

"I said 'how are you?'" James asked, waving a hand in front of her face. "Oh, fine. You aren't speaking to me. What do you do in your spare time?"

Effy smiled as she watched Gracie turn pink in annoyance. Gracie had successfully managed to annoy Effy to the point of wanting to murder her at least twice in the past hour. Breakfast had been a completely different matter, and for that she pitied Aurélie. However, she still succeeded in her mission to ignore James.

"Well, what do you like? Do you like Quidditch?" he inquired with curiosity.

The girl turned to look at him with owlishly large eyes. "No," she said simply.

"No?!" James blurted out, almost dropping his drink. "How can you not like Quidditch? It's so much fun, being so much higher than everyone else, the feel of your face being whipped off by the wind and the chance of falling off your broom at any given moment."

The girl continued to stare at James. "No," she repeated with the same deadpan tone.

"Is it the violence? That's the part that catches everyone out. Is it too violent for you?"

The girl had turned away, but now turned back. "No," she said, a neutral tone covering any emotion she might've wanted to express. "I find it's not violent enough."

A sense of bone-chilling fear shuddered through James. Her emotionless voice, the small scars he was noticing over her body, one in particular on her forehead, and how she could just stand there and say that was just plain creepy. Her looks didn't help. She seemed innocent and harmless; however her grey eyes and perfectly carved smirk told him a different story. Perhaps she liked to cause trouble. She certainly looked like she enjoyed trouble.

"What's your name?" he asked, intending to get the most information from her as possible. Something was not quite right with whoever this was.

"Something you'll never know," She giggled softly as she turned away.

* * *

James stared out of his bedroom window, down on the girl as she talked with someone who looked like a Weasley. They seemed to be merrily conversing, considerably happier than she had been when he had spoken to her.

"James?" a voice called out from the bottom of the stairs, a familiar one at that.

"I'm up here," he called back, knowing the voice belonged to Lysander. "don't knock over that vase or my Mum will murder you." He was referring to the vase Lysander had always knocked over, every single time the Potters held a barbeque at their home in Godric's Hollow.

For once, there wasn't a resounding crash, swearword or Lysander trotting meekly into James' room after breaking the vase.

"I didn't break it!" he exclaimed as he reached the mess that was James' room. "What are you looking at?" Lysander asked suddenly, pointing out of the window.

"Oh, nothing," James said, his eyes flickering down to the girl.

"Damn man, I think I might beat you to it," Lysander said as he found what James was looking at, scrambling across James' hardwood floors to the door and dashing down the stairs.

James laughed as he followed Lysander down the stairs. Not only had Lysander managed to knock the vase over, he was pretty certain that whoever the girl was would squash Lysander flat.

After telling his mother that Lysander had done it again, James strolled out to the garden, to see Lysander chatting away with the girl who had snubbed him earlier on. He walked over to Alice, the one person he knew he could rely on here.

"Hey Alice," he said as he picked up a drink from the table behind her.

"Oh," she blushed slightly. "Hi James. What's up?"

"I was wondering," he began, squinting against the sunshine. "Do you know who that is?" He pointed Effy out to Alice. "I mean – she flooed with your family, so I'm guessing you know her…"

"Oh, her?" Alice pointed out the strange girl with inky black hair as she spoke to Lysander. "That's Effy."

* * *

a/n:** PLOT TWIST! **ANYONE WHO READ DEGENERATES IS GONNA LOVE THIS STORY!  
wanna know why? 'cos it's the exact same one! since starting my english gcse, i'm a bit better at this writing bsnss. and when i've finished it, i'll be a bit better again. and when i start my a levels, i'll be a little bit better again (taking english lit&lang so...). (do we see a recurring theme here?)

as with TMT, i won't be updating until 24th Nov, depending if anyone wants me to continue. (hint: it will have a different sequence of events to degenerates. less chapters, more surprises.)

because i'm super nice, here's an excerpt from the next chapter. it's going to be a more descriptive piece than this badboy, but here's the opening paragraph/whatevs:_ '__Effy blinked the sunlight out of her eyes, the past twenty four hours coming back to her as though they were a dream. She had left Durmstrang's hallowed hallways and high ceilings for Hogwarts, a place that was rumoured to be 'friendly' and have an atmosphere that encouraged learning and promoted well-being. Everything Alice had told her about the place had made her want to vomit.'_

toodle-pip, kids! see you on 24th November! xo

**_guess who has two thumbs and doesn't own the harry potter universe? me, nice to meet you._**


	2. wake up

wake up

Effy blinked the sunlight out of her eyes, the past five weeks coming back to her as though they were a dream. She had left Durmstrang's hallowed hallways and high ceilings for Hogwarts, a place that was rumoured to be 'friendly' and have an atmosphere that encouraged learning and promoted well-being. Everything Alice had told her about the place had made her want to vomit.

Effy considered this to be a death sentence: she had lived a reckless lifestyle back at Durmstrang. Half the students didn't appear on Mondays because they were staving off hangovers from the previous night's partying and she had never been excluded from the fun.

"Morning Elizabeth, Mum said I should come and check you were up before we served breakfast." The softly-spoken Alice Longbottom stage-whispered from the doorway.

"I'll be down in a minute; I just have to get dressed," Effy replied, ignoring Alice's formality of standing in the doorway and refraining from using her nickname.

"Okay, I'll see you downstairs in five." Alice pulled the door back into the frame and walked along the corridor and down the stairs, her footsteps slowly receding as she traipsed down more and more flights of stairs.

When Effy was reassured that she was alone, she flung back the fresh white covers to her bed and dug her toes into the woollen rug on the floor beside it. She stood up, made her bed and padded along to her trunk, digging out some of the clothes that she could wear in the abominable heat in England. Her body was adapted for the bitter Russian winters she had tolerated as a child. The winters at Durmstrang were a little warmer, despite being further north than Effy's great-aunts estate, although they were especially warmer when there was alcohol and a late-night frolic involved.

Effy stripped off the vest and shorts she had worn to bed and dressed in another looser vest top and a short, tight skirt as they were really the only things that were appropriate to wear. Aurélie had been helpful enough to use some of her knowledge from Beauxbatons and their clothes workshops on some of Effy's clothes. Unsure of whether to put her shoes on or not, Effy decided to wear them anyway, given that Alice had mentioned going out to buy school supplies on the way over here the previous evening. She laced the high-tops up and tucked her pyjamas back into her trunk, ready for her second-to-last day at the Leaky Cauldron.

With one quick glance in the mirror, Effy tugged the hairband she had finished her braid with out and shook her hair out over her back. She re-braided in a different fashion before securing it with the hairband again and letting it lie down her back. She picked up her bracelets from the bedside table and adorned her right wrist with them before giving her vest a quick ruffle and heading out the door.

* * *

After they had finished breakfast and Alice had finished clearing up, Effy, Aurélie, Alice and Gracie left to buy their school things from Diagon Alley. Once the Leaky Cauldron had disappeared in a blur of wizards and street signs and shops, Gracie handed Alice her list.

"Buy me my stuff. Don't forget my Divination textbook."

"Of-of course," Alice murmured as Gracie dramatically stormed off.

"Does she always do that or is she saving us from her presence?" Effy asked as she feigned a yawn.

"She's alright once you get to know her," Alice said defensively.

"She's your twin and she treats you like you came out of the rear end of a dog. I think my case is closed."

Alice sighed. "Let's just drop it. I hope you guys got your letters this morning."

Effy frowned. "I didn't."

Alice ruffled through the three letters she held. "Oh, I've got yours. Here you go." Effy took it and peeled through the red wax stamp. She opened the bulging envelope and pulled out several sheets of thick parchment.

"Right," Alice said, commandeering the two lost girls. "Uniform for Aurélie and Effy first. Then books."

* * *

Three hours later, Aurélie, Alice and Effy regrouped at the Leaky Cauldron for a cold butterbeer in Alice's room. It was a small, cosy room, tucked away in the roof of the Inn. The walls curved down at such an angle that Aurélie had to crouch to open the windows.

"So, where're you from, Aurélie?" Alice asked as she opened the door, precariously carrying a tray laden with tall glasses of cloudy juice and an assortment of biscuits. Effy snatched up a chocolate one and a glass of juice and snacked while Aurélie explained where she was from.

"What about you, Ef?" Alice asked brightly once Aurélie had finished.

"Depends, do you mean my mother or my father?"

"Like, where were you born and stuff? You can say where your parents are from too, if you want."

"Oh. I was born in Russia. St Petersburg if you must be specific. My father's German and my mother's Italian."

"Oh. That's nice. What did your parents think of this trip?"

"Mine found that it would be very good to help my Engleesh," Aurélie said quickly. "Otherwise, they were not particularly pleased."

"What about you, Effy?"

Effy bit into her third biscuit. "Very little, I guess. It's hard to think when you're six feet under, or in their case: cremated."

Alice and Aurélie went silent.

"So, when are we going to Hogwarts?" Effy asked, smiling at the now mute pair that sat opposite her.

* * *

Effy found that the trip to Hogwarts was at least a little more enjoyable than her trip from Durmstrang to Britain. She sprung out of the fireplace and was promptly swept up by Will.

"Morning sweetie. How've you been?" He asked. The two month separation had been difficult for both of them. Apparently Scorpius, who was Will's buddy, did not get along well with the Longbottoms, or the Potters, or the Weasleys. Effy had caught a rumour by the tail at one of the hundred gatherings where she had been forced to go to that Rose Weasley 'fancied the pants off of that Malfoy kid' who she assumed to be Scorpius. Will's honey blond hair had been seemingly ruffled up, a habit that he had picked up two years ago at Durmstrang. He smiled down at Effy and introduced her to Scorpius.

"Scor, this is Effy," Will said. "Effy, this is Scor. He's my buddy and he's in Slytherin."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Effy. I've heard a lot about you," Scorpius said as he shook hands with her.

Effy smiled. "Of course you have," She said, before turning her gaze onto Will. The look was unmistakeable; she had given it many times before.

Before anything could be said, a short man, even shorter than Effy, stepped into the antechamber.

"Good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to have you all here today. I'd just like to take a quick register to check that everyone's arrived safely," He called off names in rapid succession from the roll of parchment clutched in his hand. "Now that we're all here, I think we shall start with introductions. I am Professor Flitwick, acting headmaster until a 'Mister Night' reaches us. It is believed that he has had transport problems, so he may not be with us until next year. When I call out your name, would you please step out of the crowd and take a seat on this stool. You are going to be sorted into the four houses of Hogwarts, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each one has its own intricate backstory and memorable alumni. I urge you all not to discredit your house once you are sorted, as you shall be living with these people for the next two years. Now, Marc Dupont." He called out and a dark-haired boy stepped forward and sat on the stool.

A few seconds later the hat shouted out to the office "Gryffindor!" the boy stood up, dwindled for a moment, then walked over to stand by a cabinet full of artefacts.

"Marie Gravois." This time a light-haired girl with a nervous disposition stepped up.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Nóemie Laroche."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Aurélie Rousseau." She shot Effy an unhappy look, which was blatantly ignored.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Sébastien Velay."

"Ravenclaw!"

With all the Beauxbatons students sorted, it meant that it was time for the students from Durmstrang to be sorted. Effy felt her hands go sweaty as the Headmaster began.

"William Cooper."

"Slytherin!"

"Edmund Fuchs."

"Slytherin!"

"Elizabeth von Jaeger."

Effy stepped forward and sat on the stool and let the hat be placed on her head.

"_This barely needs my consideration," _the hat said to her.

"Slytherin!" the hat shouted and Effy joined Will, who had stood as far away from the others as possible. Edmund had slowly edged towards him.

"Nice one." He half-smiled.

"Klaus Lang."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Amalia Snow."

"Gryffindor!"

The headmaster allowed Amalia to walk over to join Marc, and then began to explain what the houses meant and such.

"Now, I expect full participation in all activities. Your successes will be rewarded with house points, and any misbehaviour will have points taken away. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will be awarded the House Cup." He paused and let the information sink in. "Your buddies or members of your house are waiting for you all on your respective house tables and will be willing to share knowledge on your house. Boys are not allowed in the girls dorms and your timetables will be given out to you at lunch today so you can find classrooms in advance. Now, if you could please go back to the Great Hall find your house table that would be lovely." The Headmaster sighed and collapsed into his desk chair.

The group of students turned towards the door and just as Effy was about to leave, she felt the sharp edge of an envelope dig into her torso.

"Professor?" Effy asked as she approached the desk. "I was told to give you this." She tossed the letter the rest of the way, the red wax seal of the Durmstrang coat of arms facing up. She smiled, but was hasty to flee.

* * *

"So, Slytherin, huh? I wonder what it's like," Edmund said as the three of them trailed behind everyone else. "Sounds cool. How many puns do we think I can get out of it?"

"About two I think, which is also your actual age, according to your overall maturity. Shut it, Fuchs." Effy snapped.

Edmund ignored it. He had learnt from several people that the best thing to do when Effy was in a bad mood was to ignore it and let Will or Sven deal with it. Half the time Will was the problem but Edmund could only hope it wasn't this time. Maybe it had been the travelling, or her host family. She certainly hadn't been happy when she arrived.

The trio walked into the Hall and over to the table underneath a banner of green with a silver snake embroidered onto it. Two people sat next to each other, bickering more than chatting.

"Scorpius, I told you, I'm less than interested. My Herbology grade is fine, thank you very much."

"Of course it is, but you have no idea how much dirt I have on you about what happened last year with Aur- OW!" The boy named Scorpius rubbed the back of his head.

"Aurora is gone, moron. Grow up and get over it. She's graduated, alright?"

"I know she's bloody well graduated! There's no need to smack me on the back of the head! Oh, hi Will! Who's this?" Scorpius gestured to Edmund. Effy finally took the chance to soak up everything she could about Scorpius. For the least part, he had silvery blonde hair, matched with a pale complexion and eyes the colour of early morning fog.

"Scorpius, this is Edmund and and you know Effy. Edmund went to school with us at Durmstrang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Scorpius extended his hand with a sense of self-knowing and grace towards poor Edmund. "I am Scorpius Malfoy. Welcome to Slytherin house, where only the best of the best reside. According to legend, Hufflepuff's house is alleged to take the ones who have no real qualities for any of the other houses. We think that the other houses remove the unworthy for Slytherin from our view."

Effy smiled, for she was well acquainted for thinking like this. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Scorpius. We didn't really get the chance to really talk earlier, did we?" She reached out her hand and shook his. His hand was unsurprisingly cold.

"Will's told me a lot about you, Effy. A lot."

Effy's smile remained on her face, but twisted slightly at the corners to form a smirk. "Of course he has. I highly doubt he's told you everything though. I can do my full, pureblooded introduction, if you'd like."

Scorpius smiled and glanced up at Will. Will shrugged, for he was not fully adjusted to the English Effy.

"As I mentioned before, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Elizabeth von Jaeger, the last in the line." Her eyebrow quirked and she watched Scorpius try to hide his sheer excitement. She'd forgotten the overall reaction to saying her name to another pureblood. She loved it.

"And I'm Edmund," Edmund said, waving uncomfortably towards Scorpius and the red-headed girl.

"Well, this is Molly," Scorpius said, gesturing towards Molly. She acknowledged them both with a smile and sipped at her drink. "And I think I'll take on the duty of introducing you all to everyone. Do follow me, we'll get to the kitchens in all due time. Are you coming, Molly?"

Molly nodded. She wanted to observe the three transfers as they learnt. Effy was at least going to be in her dorm, she could get to know the girl.

* * *

Eventually, the two guides reached the corridor that was alleged to lead to the Slytherin common room.

"Here we have the Potions corridor. Professor Slughorn, who is also the head of Slytherin house will probably be your teacher if you're taking it at NEWT level," Scorpius explained. "And watch out for his Slug Club. He'll probably chat to you in your first class or try and 'catch up with you' which is really funny because once he tried that with Lysander and he didn't notice him so he was literally runn-"

"What this moron is trying to say is that if Slughorn things you're interesting enough he'll ask you to have dinner with him."

The three exchange students nodded and poked their heads into the dusty classroom.

"Looks like the house elves missed this room," Molly observed. "Ah well, we'll tell Slughorn tomorrow and he can get it sorted before lessons start."

"Right, along here's the common room." Scorpius led them along, down a small flight of stairs to what appeared to be a dead end. "Sugar quills."

A small panel in the wall moved back to reveal a green velvet curtain.

"Come on through, we don't bite!" Scorpius joked, walking ahead and brushing the curtain out of the way as he passed through. Will, Edmund and Effy walked through too. Molly followed them through and noted Effy's lingering fingers as she moved the curtain away.

They stooped through a short corridor and came out into a circular cavern, decorated with lavish silver and green trimmings.

Scorpius twirled around with all the flair in the world when he reached the centre of the room and addressed the assembled huddle.

"You need to check the board for notices every other day and the new password every fortnight. Tell anyone in the other houses about the password and you'll have four hundred vengeful Slytherins against you. No biggie. Guys, I'll show you your dorm. There's been a little swap with beds, so I'll show you which ones are available."

"I'll show you your dorm," Molly said, nodding to Effy.

Effy took the chance to survey the common room once more and basked in the familiarity of it. Everything was so cold down here and she thrived in the cold.

Scorpius took the boys across the room and through an aging purpled door that stood parallel to a carbon copy. Molly took her over to the copy of the door and led her down a damp coiled stone stairwell. After going down twenty-three steps, Molly stepped off the stairs and onto a stone ledge. She opened a door and stepped through.

"Come through, Effy."

Effy followed Molly's footsteps and strode into the dormitory.

Eight beds had been pushed up with the headboard to the walls, placed in between each of the windows. Molly took her anti-clockwise around the room, showing her each person's bed and giving her a little background information.

"This is India's bed. She's fabric happy, as you can probably tell. She did an internship in a Muggle fashion place over the summer. She will take advantage of any opportunity to tell you all about it. She loves talking. She's got a voice louder than a foghorn."

Effy looked at the posters of what she assumed to be Muggles. She had no idea what they were doing, but the writing underneath gave her an idea. Maybe they were selling something? She wasn't sure. All those years in Germany and Russia had not done her any good. Durmstrang wasn't any better.

Molly moved on, leaving Effy's thoughts of India's posters behind.

"This is Paige's bed. She likes Muggle sports. Swimming and volleyball, mostly. I think she plays on a team in the summer, but otherwise she's great at Quidditch."

Effy holds back her frown. She recognises the poster of the volleyball player beside Paige's bed. Someone back at Durmstrang supported his team too, but it's been so long that she can't remember the name.

"This one's Emily's bed. She's a bit of a neat freak. You can find her bickering with the boys or in the library. Madam Pince loves her, I swear. Other than that, she keeps to herself. She's usually reading or procrastinating on her schoolwork. She might not have any people skills, but she can read a 500-page textbook under twelve hours."

Unlike the other two bedside tables, Emily's was clear of anything that might prompt Effy about her personality.

"Here's Isla's bed. She's constantly drawing. She has a billion sketchbooks. She'll take any opportunity to draw anything. Her memory isn't all that reliable, so she draws things she wants to remember. This one's my bed. The one next to mine is empty for you."

Molly moved past her bed with a flitting attention and Effy almost tripped over her own trunk as she struggled to keep up. "Esme sleeps here. She's incredibly shy. Her parents are both Muggles and she thinks we judge her on that. She and Emily stick together quite a lot, actually."

"Finally, this is Greta's bed. She's always well behaved, but she's always got a scheme going." Effy noted the map of the Great Hall beside Greta's bed. "She's a shoe-in for Head Girl next year. And that's everyone! There's another floor of girls from our year, but they're not as interesting. They're a bit bubbly for us. They really ought to be in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff."

Effy was silent as she absorbed all of the information. Molly lugged her trunk up onto her bed and pulled a drawer out from underneath. She began unpacking her muggle clothes, uniform and textbooks into the large drawer.

Effy moved over to her own bed and scooped up the green and silver accessories from the top of her trunk. She hauled her own trunk up onto her bed and began unpacking.

"The rest of the student body will be here tomorrow. I have a fair few cousins, unfortunately. They're very easy to recognise, what with the Weasley red hair."

Effy smiled and filled in the silence with a noise of assent. She continued packing in her cotton shirts to the black walnut drawers. She folded over the scarf and gloves and tucked them in the gaps between her shoes. The tie was the last thing to be added. Effy kicked the drawer back underneath the bed and stowed her trunk in the tiny gap between the wall and the drawer.

Effy sat on her bed, tracing the diamond stitching of the emerald green quilt with a light fingertip. She waited for Molly to finish unpacking her trunk.

"What time's dinner served?"

"Usually six o'clock. You can have breakfast at any time between six and eight. Lunch is served at one."

"Got it. Anything else I should know? Infrastructure of the social system?" She added with a laugh.

Molly laughed through her nerves. "I'll point out the people that really aren't worth your time tomorrow. Let me show you the bathroom."

* * *

A/N: been a little while, i suppose. sorry, i guess?

guest reviewer - hopefully i'll finish it. it might be in ten years time, but i'm hoping i can finish it.

_disclaimer: i own my own characters. some of them have been recycled from other fics. what're you going to do about it?_


	3. days

days

The following morning, after Effy had learnt just how nice it was at night in the dorms, having spent the whole night awake, she had also learnt how the lavish silver hangings could also double up as curtains, she, Tia and Molly walked up to breakfast in their uniform. Molly was supposed to be giving her a more formal tour after breakfast, and she was tasked with introducing her to all the teachers.

"We have a new teacher this year, 'cos our old Transfiguration teacher went a bit barmy last year. Anyways!" Molly beamed brightly, something she was horribly prone to doing. "Apparently he's really nice. That's what Teddy told me. Teddy's the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, it's only his second year as a teacher, and he can be a bit strict at times 'cos he doesn't know how to control the class."

"Which one's he then?" Will asked as he threw himself down next to Effy and Edmund.

"The one with the blue hair. He's a metamorphmagus, and if his hair changes to red, you're in trouble. If it changes to black, you're in the shit. The next one over from him, that's my uncle, Charlie. He teaches Care of Magical Creatures, takes a very informal approach to it. He sort of helps Hagrid a bit; they share lessons. The next one over, that's Flitwick. He teaches Charms, but I think he's filling in for the new Head until they get here. Then there's Professor Slughorn. He teaches Potions, but he's on his last legs now. Won't last more than two years here, I mean, he's gotta retire eventually. I think he's waiting for James to graduate, 'cos James is the eldest son of Harry Potter, and he wants to see at least one of the 'Chosen One's' kids through school."

Edmund frowned. "The Chosen One? As in: _the_ Chosen One?"

"Yeah. He's my cousin. He's a right pain in the arse, if I'm going to be honest. Going back to the teachers: if you're connected to loads of influential people, or you're an exceptional student, Slughorn will add you to his collection. You're taking Potions, aren't you Effy?"

"Huh?" Effy shook her head as she came out of her daze. "Yeah. I think so. It's on my timetable."

"Be careful or Old Sluggy will offer for you to join the Slug Club. I'm stuck in it 'cos of my dad. He's running for Minister of Magic." Molly chewed on a piece of bacon. "Mostly made up of my cousins, but there are a few exceptions. Scorpius is in there, 'cos he's a Potions Master." Molly said loudly as Scorpius looked up and scowled. "Anyways, I think that spare seat is for the new teacher or whatever, but the next guy over, that's Professor Longbottom. He's the Herbology teacher here. On the other end of the table, there's Firenze. He teaches Divination. Professor Trelawney's probably still asleep. Next to him is Professor Davies, he teaches Ancient Runes. He's ridiculously good at Maths, and finally there's Professor Page. Her students call her Prof for short. She's really nice, according to Teddy." Molly paused. "And that's the teachers so far, except the Muggle Studies Professor. He rarely appears for mealtimes. "

"So, what else do we need to know? Any vital information?" Effy asked.

"There're bits and bobs. Don't be freaked out if you hear someone walk past you but can't see anyone, probably James and his mates trying to weird you out. He's got his dad's invisibility cloak y'see, and they use it for pranks and such. He's also got this map, and it shows you where everyone is, and what they're doing and such, it helps them with their pranks." Molly took another slice of bacon. "I can show you some of the secret passages and stuff, but they're the ones you want to talk to if you wanna know all of them. I don't think you've met the resident ghosts yet, have you?"

Will looked at Effy, who shook her head.

"There's the Bloody Baron, I'm surprised he hasn't shown up yet, he loves new students. He'll even scare some people for you if you get on his good side, but don't bring up how he got covered in blood, he doesn't like it. The Bloody Baron's our house ghost. There's the Fat Friar, who's Hufflepuff's ghost, the Grey Lady – she's actually Ravenclaw's daughter. Rumour had it that she and the Bloody Baron had something going on when they were alive." Molly explained. "Anyways, then there's Nearly Headless Nick. Constantly reminds the Gryffindors of his actual name, but no-one remembers it. There's Peeves too, he's the poltergeist here. Loves to create havoc, but only listens to the Bloody Baron on a good day."

"I don't think we had any ghosts at Durmstrang, did we Eff?" Will asked, gently nudging her with his elbow.

"No. We didn't, it's quite odd now that I think about it. People died there all the time. Usually fights and things," Her eyes bulged, "I mean no-one really died. They just ended up… cataleptic for a bit."

"When she says 'a bit', she means about three weeks," Will whispered as the ceiling distracted Effy from the conversation.

* * *

Molly and Scorpius led their three Durmstrang students around the rest of the school and hoped they soaked in as much as they could of the school and its secrets. They had been incredibly quiet throughout the entire tour and only Will asked questions without prompting. Edmund was relatively attentive and Effy was silent throughout. She held Will's hand and let him drag her about a little. Molly felt that she definitely didn't want to be walking about and when they finally retired to their dormitories to get into their uniforms for dinner, as Effy spent an irrational amount of time curled up and napping.

* * *

Molly sat with Effy for dinner. Will, Edmund and Scorpius hadn't turned up from their dorms, and Molly had refused to go down to see them on the grounds that 'it stinks of sweat and musty socks'.

Later that evening, Molly shifted restlessly in her seat and she sat tapping the table. Effy stared blankly at the wall behind Molly's head and counted the protruding bricks on the wall.

"Just a quick heads up, the entirety of the school hates Slytherin house. Even some of the Slytherins hate us."

Effy decided to humour Molly, "Why?"

"Voldie the Mouldie was in Slytherin and so was his posse of Death Eaters, so everybody thinks the house is comprised of people who want to hex them for no real reason."

Professor Flitwick entered the hall and after spotting the two girls, he headed towards them, as Effy fiddled with the silver and grey tie she had had so much trouble with earlier on.

"Ah, girls. I don't suppose you know where the boys are?"

"Nope," Molly replied as she played with a piece of scrap paper she had found in her pocket.

"Well we're presenting the new students before the Sorting. Can you tell them to go to the antechamber when they arrive?"

"Of course, Professor."

* * *

The sound of just under a thousand people trampling into the Great Hall was muffled by the solid wooden door that kept the ten exchange students safely tucked away from the hundreds of gawping faces.

"I'm guessing we have to go out there in a sec?" Edmund whispered.

Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice slipped underneath the door, "As you all know, we have had exchange students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons come over and they are going to be spending the next two years with us, until they graduate. Gryffindor house, would you please welcome Marc Dupont and Amalia Snow as new students." Marc and Amalia left the antechamber and walked towards their table. "Hufflepuff, you have gained Miss Nóemie Laroche. Ravenclaw, you now have Aurélie Rousseau, Sébastien Velay and Klaus Lang. Finally, Slytherin house have three new students, William Cooper, Edmund Fuchs and Elizabeth von Jaeger."

The crowd's silence had been held, and it was unlikely it was going to be held for much longer. Effy followed Will and Edmund back to the Slytherin table and sat down between Molly and Will as the Sorting for the new first years took place.

"It would seem that you've attracted unwanted attention already," Molly whispered into Effy's ear, pointing towards James.

"Oh, yeah, he pestered me all summer," Effy smiled serenely, "I might resort to violence now I could get away with it…" she trailed off, and Molly laughed.

"You're kidding? I never thought you'd be one to throw punches. Anyway, he's the top Gryffindor chaser. Only the beaters have better muscles than Chasers. Did you play beater back at Durmstrang?"

"Oh, no. We didn't have Quidditch because we never took it seriously. It took four near-death experiences in the first three minutes for them to call the match off. One kid's skull got cracked open."

Molly paused, looking for the right word, "…Oh."

"So I'm afraid Quidditch is all incredibly new to me. A lot of this is." She gestured to the rows of students, all laughing and eating in harmony.

"How long did you have to be at school for before a fight started out?"

"I think the record was nine seconds?"

"…Oh."

* * *

Effy returned to the Slytherin common room that night, but not without dread in her heart and an uncalled for altercation with James in the middle of the corridor.

"So, Slytherin? Who would've thought it?"

"I did, obviously. How can I help you today, James?"

"Well, you could go out with me?"

"No."

"Why not, Ef?"

"One – you insist on calling me that, two – I'm under the impression that you already have a girlfriend, or rather, a leech, three – I have a boyfriend and we are perfectly comfortable in our co-dependent relationship, thanks."

Effy turned the corner sharply enough for James to walk into the wall. That was where she lost him.

* * *

Effy dreaded going back to the common room - it meant being stared at and whispered about, and then it was eventually bed time, which meant another night lying awake, tossing and turning and waiting for sleep to float up and snatch her away from reality.

At the same time, Effy was glad she didn't sleep. What were once peaceful dreams had been overridden by disrupting nightmares of the past - of_ that_ night over and over again. Another night of watching her father die was too much for even Effy, who had been brought up by her father. She hadn't met her mother and her mother had never even touched her since her first day on the Earth. Effy hadn't been taught to deal with her emotions. She had learnt to bury them.

"A soldier with emotions is as useless as a Squib with a wand, Adelaide." With every day, her father had branded the words into her brain. So she had been a good girl and she had ignored every emotion that ever welled up inside of her. Every feeling, except for pure, unadulterated rage had been blocked out and then she had learnt to channel it.

* * *

A/N:Sorry about it being a while between updates, I hope you enjoyed and I'll try and be speedier with Chapter Four!  
**~the optimistic cynic** - Thanks for dropping by with a review! Hopefully you'll find out soon!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. My OC's and the plot are the only things I can take any form of credit for.


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